Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1920)

December 4 , 1 9 2 o 43J7 gei Emmet Cornell will give a big sendL The Gardiner company has leased te big convention hall in Rochester for a extended run of " Before the White [an Came," which will be shown at adinced prices. The Tonawanda Indian land of 20 pieces and the Hiawatha uartette will accompany the showing. . R Gardiner has arranged to have the Olumbia record featuring Cal Stewart t the County Fair used in connection ith presenutions of "The County Fair." Ralph Blouvet and Arthur Merritt of eRoy, N. Y., have purchased the Strand leatre ia Brockport, N. Y., .and have ased the Baptist church building opMite the State Normal school in Genleo. N. Y. Messrs. Blouvet and Mertt have operated the Family theatre in eRoy and a small house in Caledonia t a number of years. They took pos:ssion of the Brockport house last week id about January 1 will open the Genleo theatre after extensive alterations. C. B. Hoy of the Hoy Reporting Serice, was a Buffalo visitor last week. He mnd managers of the various exchanges id few complaints on their hands. Charlie Nickum expects to open his •w Gem theatre in Olean during the jlidavs. The theatre, which is located 1 First and State streets, has a seating ipacity of 500. B. U. Taylor of Olean erecting the structure. The audience in the Temple theatre, Ibion. N. Y., was given a scare on the rening of November IS when the Jack empsey serial which was being profited caught fire. The house was soon nptied. The fire department soon put at the blaze, which was confined to the loth. The operator had a narrow esipe. Property loss was small. Howard Brink of the Robertson-Cole xhange conferred with Rochester exbitors last week on " Kismet," and on turning to Buffalo announced that he tpected to close a contract soon for a [ng run in the Flower City. Mr. Brink uraeyed to Erie, Pa., Tuesday morng, November 23 to screen the Otis tinner production for northern Pennflvania exhibitors in the Columbia theae in Erie. The Buffalo Nest of Orioles are feairing Sunday evening motion picture itertainmcnts in their Genesee street >me for members and their families, be first picture bill showed the members t the Nest on the trip to the Lynn, ass., convention. Byron Interbitzen of the Pioneer sales aff and J. L. Cook of the same outfit, ive returned to Buffalo from trips downate where they signed up a record num;r of contracts for " The Son of Tar.n." Interbitzen closed a number of >okings in Binghamton and Cortland id Cook signed 'em up in Corning. Ira M. Mosher, former manager of e Palace theatre, Buffalo, was in charge a film entertainment given for the otary club in the Hotel Statler last tursday. He showed Harold Lloyd in Get Out and Get Under," and other bjects. Frank Davidson, chief operator at the ark-Strand theatre, Buffalo, has aclired the agency for the Powers mane in this part of the state. He will atinue for the present his duties in e Strand booth. Harry E. Lotz, manager of the Realart Fice, has reached 94 in his list of franises in the territory and declares he 11 hit the 100 mark before next week, r. Lotz announces that the Palace will ow the special production, " The Furce," for an extended engagement soon. H. L. Taylor of the Buffalo Theatre ipply company has placed a Motiograph achine in the Rex theatre, Geneseo, Y. " Hub " visited Rochester last :ek and returned with a big batch of siness. Art Schmidt, district manager of Unirsal, was in Buffalo three days last ;ek for conferences with M. A. Chase, uJ manager and visits with local exbitors. Mr. Schmidt is interested in e Central Park and Premier theatres Buffalo. Ben Fitzer, who has an independent change in the Palace theatre building, iffalo, has closed a contract with the cade theatre in Rochester for the owing of " The Golden Trail." Ben 11 soon screen " Madonnas and Men," • Buffalo exhibitors. John Sitterly, manager of the Dooley ice is touring Western New York this week, renewing acquaintances with his many exhibitor friends. John screened the second Neal Hart production, " Sky Fire," last week and received many favorable comments. George Blackman, sales manager for Dooley, was in Buffalo last week. NEW ORLEANS Shall it be a motion picture house or a delicatessen? That's the question a New Orleans court has to decide. Peter Fabacher, owner and manager of the Electric theatre, 934-36 Canal street, last week filed suit for possession of the house against Theodore Grunewald, who wants to make the place a delicatessen. The " old " Orpheum, so designated to distinguish it from the new Orpheum which is under construction, has been leased by the Shuberts for 10 years. It it not likely the Orpneum folk will move out this season. W. J. Pratt, district manager of Atlanta, of the Paramount-Artcraft, and R D. Burdge, of Atlanta, Southern sales manager for Realart, were in New Orleans last week looking over the new location of their branches here. C. Jimmie Briant, exchange manager for First National, was host last week to Messrs. Burke and Browne, officials of the Associated First National. Al Shear, of Sobel, Richards Shear Enterprises, is back at his desk after a vacation in Brown's Well, Miss. The Newcomb theatre, 908 Canal street, caught fire twice in three days last week. The first blaze destroyed 500 feet of film, according to the police, and 10 feet according to Frederick Pearce, owner of the house. The second fire did about $300 damage to the projector and burned $100 worth of film. Both blazes were caused by carelessness of operators, said Mr. Pearce. About a year ago Motion Picture News published a short item from NewOrleans about the invention by a NewOrleans man of a system of designating by electric lights on a board in the lobby of a theatre just what seats were vacant so patrons could find a seat in the dark. It is stated to be the same system that is being installed by the Rivoli of New York. W. L. Guerin is the inventor. ATLANTA The formal opening of the Maxime theatre, in Crosswell, Ga., took place last week, when the theatre played to capacity business with " The Miracle Man." The theatre seats 650 people. The Princess theatre, Florence, Ala., with a capitalization of $25,000, of which $10,000 is paid in, has filed notice of incorporation with the Alabama State Secretary. Louis Rosenbaum heads the list of incorporators, and they intend to build other theatres in the near future. The Princess theatre in Oskaloosa, La., recently opened, following repairs and remodeling. The Princess is managed by Mr. W. I. Neagle. J. C. Felsonthal, owner of the Marlowe theatre in Jackson, Tenn., is now considering plans for the remodeling and enlarging of his theatre, at which time he will install modern equipment throughout. A motion picture theatre will be built in Richmond, Va., on the east side of Second street, between Marshall and Clay streets, at a cost of $45,000. The People's Amusement Company are the builders. The Saenger Amusement Co. will soon begin construction on their new theatre building at Monroe, La. This contract has been awarded the Underwood Construction Company, of New Orleans. Paul Phillips, who used to travel the roads for Robertson-Cole, has returned to the exhibiting game, and opened his new theatre — the Wilson — in Wilson, N. C, last week, reporting a capacity business. He reports that the outlook for business was never better, but that he will have to keep hustling — which will be no hardship for Paul ! The new Lenox theatre, in Augusta, Ga., will be opened to the colored people of that district within the next two or three weeks. The ambition of the man agement is to make it the best colored theatre in the South. The newest Gulfport, Miss., house to open is the Strand, which opened last week to capacity business with Norma Talmadge in Yes or No." The Casino theatre in Lakeland, Fla., is to have a complete remodeling, under the management of H. B. Carter. The present plans are to spend about $15,000 on these changes. E. W. Holt, formerly assistant manager for Southeastern Pictures Corporation, Atlanta, has succeeded Louis S. Collier as manager for the Atlanta office of Pearce Films. Manager Chase of the Parlor theatre, Key West, Fla., is increasing the seating capacity of his house to about 800. C. A. McCrea has bought the Liberty theatre from G. B. Hcndrickson. The Liberty theatre is In Darlington, S. C. The Buffalo Mills, three miles out from Union, S. C, has purchased two new Powers projectors, which completes their splendid auditorium, where movies are given for the employees on certain nights of the week. There is no entertainment nearer than Union, for these employees and they welcome the movie shows with joy. The New Lyric, Huntsville, Ala., opened early in October and is enjoying a run of excellent business. The house is under the management of C. A. Crute. Mr. Edenfield, manager of the Dreamland, the only independent house in Augusta, has purchased a complete producing outfit, and his activities are being watched with interest by his friends. (He hasn't any enemies.) F. Skeen of-Biscoe, N. C, has recently opened a theatre there. The town is a very small one, and hard to find on the map — but it is in the center of a rich farming section and the only theatre in miles. So Mr. Skeen seems justified in believing that his present good business will continue. Marion, N. C, also boasts a new theatre— •" The Oasis." The house is a beautiful one and very up-to-date. Marion " fans " insist it is five years ahead of other theatres in similar towns in the territory. L. D. Miller has opened a new theatre the Rex — at Rutherfordton, N. C. The Chesnee Cotton Mills of Chesnee, S. C., has installed projectors and now runs selected movie programs several nights each week. W. C. Sibley is the manager. The Clinton Manufacturing Co., of Clifton, S. C also boasts a new theatre for the benefit of their employees. L. O. Brown, superintendent of the mill, is now acting as manager. PORTLAND, ORE. New sales methods are being injected in Portland's film row by John Brill, who came out two weeks ago from the New York city office to assume general charge of the Portland Universal exchange. Press books given by film manufacturers some months ago began the practice of including a rhymed review for possibly use in newspaper copy. Comes Mr. Brill now with a rhymed letter which he sent last week to every exhibitor in the state of Oregon. The poetry, however, was not for the public but primarily to sell film to the exhibitors — merely a new way of attracting their attention. " The Prohibition Monk " is responsible for Mr. Brill's poetic outburst. As a matter of fact, this two-reel comedy featuring the ape, Joe Martin, has already been shown in Portland at the People's theatre for which C. S. Jensen has purchased the entire lot of this series. The third of the series is expected in Portland the latter part of the month. The recent election in Vancouver, Wash., gave to Johu Kiggins, owner of the U. S. A. theatre in that city, the mayorship by a plurality of two to one. Mr. Kiggins was in Portland and left on film row his only printed propaganda which he had issued during the campaign. It was an eight-page leaflet, the only writing appearing on the cover was : " What I Have to Say About My Political Opponents." A similar method of conducting the Portland campaign in the recent strike issues was used with success. At no time during the four months of the strike was any theatre owner or employee quoted as saying derogatory or personal remarks about union musicians, operators and officers. The Portland police quartet had charge of the vocal musical numbers at the Liberty theatre recently. The quartet was organized by Chief of Police Jenkins who is a profound believer in cooperation among his men. It has appeared at many civic gatherings gratis, and the money made for appearing five times daily for one week at the Liberty will go into the general quartet funds. The quartet is composed of R. L. Crane, Ralph Gowanlock, Ed Lawson and George Johnson. William Wood, " Nursemaid " to the five Jensen and Von Herberg orchestral organs, last week completed an attachment for a marimba-xylophone to be added to the Columbia theatre. Mr. Wood purchased the marimba-xylophone (or $375 and then personally built the attachment with its minute electrical wiring which gives not only the single but reiterating tones. As the marimba-xylophone now stands it is valued at nearly $1,500, although aside from the time and labor represented by Mr. Wood's efforts, it has cost approximately $800. Bert Lytell, one of the screen stars whom Portland exhibitors declare to have excellent drawing power — the best possible proof of popularity — is scheduled to arrive in Portland sometime during this month, according to William Ely, manager of the Hippodrome theatre. Mr. Ely received word last week that Mr. Lyteli has already started on a tour of the Loew theatres in Greater New York. His tour completed in that city, he will start a continental tour of the Loew string which includes the Portland Hippodrome. Announcement was made last month by Mr. Ely that all future Metro productions would come to the Hippodrome for their Portland first runs. An extra picture program was given at the Hippodrome theatie on Armistice Day. The majority of houses ran past 11 p. m. on both election and Armistice nights. DETROIT Al Mertz has been appointed assistant manager of the Universal Film exchange. Mr. Mertz has been the exchange booker for the past three years. David Mundstock, in co-operation with W. S. Butterfield, has purchased the Michigan rights to " Up in Mary's Attic," and it will be distributed by the Strand Film Co., which Mr. Mundstock controls. Frank Drew, well known local salesman and exchange manager, will have charge of the Strand exchange. George Custer has been sales manager of the feature departmet in the Pathe exchange. Warning has been issued by the city fire marshal to theatre owners over violations of the standing room ordinance which have been repeatedly vio'ated by numerous houses. Managers of the New Home and Fredo theatres were recently brought into court. H. White, of the Beechwood theatre, has left to spend the winter at Lake Worth, Fla. M. W. McGee, former manager of the Majestic theatre, when it was the leading photoplay house in the city and who, in recent years, has been in charge of one of the big amusement parks, it is rumored, will take over one of the big downtown houses in a few days. FON DU LAC E. C. Marshall of Oakfield, Wis., and W. Burkholder of Waupun. Wis., have leased the new Liberty Hall at Oakfield, erected by the citizeus of that place and the town of Oakfield and recently dedicated to the men who entered service from that community, and have converted it into a modern moving picture house to be used as such two nights in the week — Saturdays and Sundays. Mr. Marshall is managing the enterprise which was launched on Nov. 6 with Marguerite Clark in " Luck in Pawns," playing to excellent business. As a (Continued on page 4356)